Wales have handed a Six Nations debut to scrum-half Tomos Williams for the opening game against France in Paris on Friday.
The Cardiff Blues man featured in six test matches for Wales last year and head coach Warren Gatland has selected him ahead of Scarlets scrum-half Gareth Davies.
Wales finished in second place in Six Nations last year but they are enjoying a fine run of form -- winning nine consecutive matches.
"We are looking forward to kicking off the Six Nations and kicking off our 2019 campaign as a whole," said Wales head coach Gatland in a statement.
"We come into the game on an impressive run of results but we know how tough it will be to face France in Paris in the tournament opener."
Dan Biggar, Owen Watkin and Davies provide experience on the bench and Gatland believes the whole team will be important to get off to the perfect start on Friday.
"It will be a huge contest but we are excited going into it. We have a great deal of experience across the team and on the bench and we want to kick things off well on Friday," he said.
Wales squad to face France
Team: Backs: Liam Williams, George North, Jonathan Davies, Hadleigh Parkes, Josh Adams, Gareth Anscombe, Tomos Williams.
Forwards: Ross Moriarty, Justin Tipuric, Josh Navidi, Alun Wyn Jones (captain), Adam Beard, Tomas Francis, Ken Owens, Rob Evans.
Replacements: Elliot Dee, Wyn Jones, Samson Lee, Cory Hill, Aaron Wainwright, Gareth Davies, Dan Biggar, Owen Watkin.
Meanwhile, centre Romain Ntamack will start his first game for France after the 19-year-old was named in the team to face Wales in their Six Nations opener on Friday at the expense of the experienced Mathieu Bastareaud.
Bastareaud was left out of the squad that will also feature debutant lock Paul Willemse.
Les Bleus kick off their campaign against a side they have only beaten once in the last seven years.
They also face tricky trips to Twickenham and the Aviva Stadium to face England and Ireland, who are fourth and second in the world rankings, respectively.
Coach Jacques Brunel has recalled scrumhalf Morgan Parra and centre Wesley Fofana after the Clermont duo missed the November series through injury, handing both of them a start on Wednesday for the Stade de France clash.
Ntamack, the son of the former France player and ex France assistant coach Emile, has been instrumental in Toulouse's return to the top of the Top 14 league this season.
France squad to face Wales:
Team: Backs: Maxime Medard, Damian Penaud, Wesley Fofana, Romain Ntamack, Yoann Huget, Camille Lopez, Morgan Parra.
Forwards: Louis PIcamoles, Arthur Iturria, Wenceslas Lauret, Paul Willemse, Sebastien Vahaamahina, Uini Atonio, Guilhem Guirado (captain), Jefferson Poirot.
Replacements: Julien Marchand, Dany Priso, Demba Bamba, Felix Lambey, Gregory Alldritt, Baptiste Serin, Gael Fickou, Geoffrey Doumayrou.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.